


They're Back

by lesbianophelia



Series: reunions [1]
Category: Hunger Games Series - All Media Types
Genre: AU, F/M, I'll warn beforehand, JUST, a whole bunch of AUs, some are angst, some are fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-15
Updated: 2015-02-15
Packaged: 2018-03-13 02:39:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,168
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3364619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lesbianophelia/pseuds/lesbianophelia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>a look at some alternate reunions for our Star Crossed Lovers. All set during different alternate timelines for Mockingjay.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Shielded

They try to separate the two of them more than once. First by putting them in separate beds on the hovercraft. He can hear plenty of things – the steady beep of heart monitors. Chatter in the other room. All that matters is Katniss, lying in the bed closest to his. The steady rise and fall of her chest. She is in bad shape, but alive. For now.  
  
He’s not sure where they are. Where they’re going. He moves carefully, disentangling himself from wires and tubes and ignoring the terrible pain where his tracker was before Finnick cut it out. He moves to her bed, taking a sterile syringe off of the bedside table and climbing into her bed. He doesn’t know much, when it comes to medical supplies, but he knows enough about inserting oxygen into a vein to hope that he doesn’t have to use it.  
  
But he will protect Katniss at all costs. Will keep the promise that he made in the Quell. He holds her to his chest and cries and pets her hair and all but growls at Haymitch when he tries to come in and ask why Peeta hasn’t joined them yet. It isn’t long after they’re left alone that her eyes flutter open.  
  
“You’re awake,” he sobs. She nods, and he pulls her somehow closer.  
  
“Where are we?” she croaks.  
  
“I don’t know,” he admits. But they will find out together.  



	2. Surrendered

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is sad.

It works. Not exactly, but closely enough to what she wants. Peeta is safe. Not out of the hands of the Capitol, but taken out of the chambers they had him hidden away in. There’s a prep team – a replacement for hers, who were taken captive by District Thirteen and not allowed to come with her, a petty traitor who gave herself up. She wonders if Coin will have them executed.  
  
Her face is covered in powder and creams. Her hair is styled. She’s sure that in another room, the same is being done for Peeta.  
  
He waits for her on the stage, looking bewildered but handsome in white that matches her dress. This is not the time for a dramatic reunion, like they shared after their first games. Like she so desperately wishes for. Now is the time to be united. They stand side by side on the stage while the president gives a speech about ushering in a new era of peace in Panem, hands linked together. Pretending as if this is what she wanted. What she thought would happen when she gave herself up in exchange for Peeta’s safety.  
  
He is not in Thirteen. She is in the Capitol. She is a fool for trusting a snake.  
  
She takes one look into Peeta’s miserable eyes and knows that what she’s done is unforgivable.  
 **  
**


	3. Sob

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this one is quite a bit happier than the title would insinuate

When her eyes open, it’s to the sight of a bunch of doctors. Shining lights. Checking her vitals. She shrinks back, but can’t help herself when she hears his voice.  
  
“ . . . _let me see her! You can’t do this! I did what you asked!”_  
  
“Peeta,” she sobs. The crowd around her parts, and then he’s there, dressed in the gray jumpsuits that she recognizes from the propos he filmed. Her hand reaches out for his, blindly, and he meets her halfway, twining their fingers together.  
  
“I’m here,” he murmurs, bringing his head down so he can rest his forehead against hers. “I’m here. I’m here.”  
  
She decides that she doesn’t care where _here_ is, so long as Peeta’s there, every bit as alive and well as he told the country District Thirteen was in his last propo.


	4. Safe

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> happy :)

****  
As he floats back up towards consciousness, he isn’t aware of very much. There’s the _ache_ in his body. The hollowness in his stomach. But there’s something else, too. He can’t feel the restraints cutting into his wrists, but there _is_ pressure. Warm and soft, enveloping his hand. Not all of it, but enough.  
  
 _Katniss_?  
  
It’s silly. And desperate. But that’s where his mind leaps to first. He’s felt Katniss’ hands in his plenty of times, and they’re not big enough to fully cover his. But she’s not here. She’s not in the Capitol. He’s grateful for that. But in moments like this, when the _emptiness_ hits him full force, he misses her desperately before he can remember to try not to.  
  
The next thing he notices are the bright lights. Painful even though his closed eyelids. Fluorescent and – not what he’s used to waking up to. His quarters in the Capitol – if they can even be called that – are usually so dark that waking doesn’t make much difference.  
  
That pressure around his hands tightens when his eyelids flutter, trying to open. It’s not unpleasant. At least, not completely.  
  
“ _Peeta.”_  
  
That’s her voice. Sighing out his name like it’s the only thing she knows how to save. His eyes open fully, and though he recoils against the harsh light, he’s rewarded by the sight of Katniss. Leaned over the top of him, looking pale and thin and tired, but there.  
  
“Peeta,” she says again, and her eyes fill with tears.  
  
“Katniss?”  
  
His voice is hoarse. A ragged little sob escapes her.  
  
“Katniss? Oh, Katniss.” His free hand – not the one she’s still clutching, reaches up to touch her face. Very softly. He’s not entirely sure that she’s there, or that he’s _here_ , until he makes contact. She leans her head into his hand. “What –? How did they . . .?”  
  
“They sent a team out,” she says.  
  
It’s his turn to sob. All of this had been for her. Keeping her safe, or at least keeping some part of himself safe, secure in the knowledge that it was him, and not her. He had planned to die for her, after all. And though he knew that the people in the Capitol had nothing so merciful as death planned for him, it was no small comfort to know that she was in District Thirteen. Away from all of this.  
  
But she isn’t.  
  
“It’s okay. It’s okay, Peeta. You’re safe now. You’re safe.”  
  
 _Safe._ His eyebrows knit together.  
  
“You’re safe,” she murmurs. He’s not sure if she’s talking to him or to herself. “Safe. _Here_.”  
  
“Katniss,” he starts, and she finally lets go of his hand, leaning forward to brush some hair away from his forehead. He realizes that he hasn’t let go of her _face_ just yet.  
  
“The nurses are going to want to do some tests,” she explains, her voice gentle. “They’ve been trying to get me out of here since you got back. But I’m not leaving your side. Not unless you want me to.”  
  
He shakes his head. “No. Stay.”  
  
She crumples at that, her head ending up on her chest as she sobs out a few sentences that are almost incomprehensible, save for the words _always,_ and _Peeta,_ and _love you_.  
  
In District Thirteen. Safe. Loved by Katniss. He wonders what else he’s going to learn about this new situation that would have seemed impossible just twenty-four hours ago.  



End file.
